Tag Archives: Kent

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, photography, Sergeant, Somerset, Somerset Light Infantry, story, war, Wiltshire

Serjeant Arthur Jones

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Serjeant Arthur Jones

Arthur Henry Jones was born in 1874, the oldest of five children to James and Kate Jones. James worked as a coachman, and travelling seems to have been his thing.

Born in Wiltshire, he met and married Kate in Somerset, and this is where Arthur was born; by 1879, the young family had moved to Hampshire, and within a year they had relocated again, this time to Folkestone in Kent. Three years later, by the time James and Kate’s youngest two children were born, they were back in Wiltshire again, having competed their tour of the south of England.

Sadly, tragedy was to strike the Jones family, when Kate passed away in 1888, at the tender age of 31 years old. James had a family of boys to bring up, however, and he married again, this time to a Miriam Millard. The couple went on to have two children, giving Arthur a half-brother and half-sister.

At this point, Arthur falls off the radar. It may well be that he chose to take up a military career early on – if he was serving overseas, it is possible that the census documentation no longer exists. Twelve years’ service would certainly seem to account for his absence between 1881 and the next time his name appears on records.

These records relate to Arthur’s marriage to Fanny Hill. The couple were married by Banns in May 1906, marrying in Westbury, Wiltshire. They went on to have four children – Arthur, Kathleen, Gladys and Percival – between 1907 and 1911.

Again, at this point, Arthur falls off the radar. His service records no longer exist, but what evidence remains confirms that he enlisted in the Somerset Light Infantry and was assigned to the 7th (Service) Battalion. Initially formed in Taunton, they shipped out to France in July 1915, although there is no documentation to confirm when or if Arthur was involved.

Sadly, the only other reference to Serjeant Jones is his final pension record. This confirms that he succumbed to a combination of influenza and pneumonia on 27th January 1919. He was 44 years old.

Arthur Henry Jones lies at rest in St Mary’s Cemetery in Taunton, Somerset.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal Army Service Corps, story, war

Private Frank Beacon

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Private Frank Beacon

Frank Archibald Beacon was born in 27th April 1884, one of five children to William and Frances Beacon. William was a bargeman and the family lived in the village of Barrow Green near the North Kent marshes.

Tragically, William died at the age of only 36, leaving Frank without a father from the age of 2 years old. Frances found work as a charwoman, before finding love again. She married James Seager in 1895, who took in Frank and his siblings as his own.

After leaving school, Frank found work both as a builder and farm labourer and this was to stand him in good stead until the outset of war.

In January 1909, Frank married Kate Amelia Smart; she was the daughter of a victualler, and was born on Kent’s east coast, in Sandwich. The couple settled down to live in Newington, a village close to where Frank grew up, and had two children, Annie and Frank.

War was looming, and Frank enlisted. He joined the Royal Army Service Corps, working as a Private for the Mechanical Transport Company. Full details of his military service are not evident, but he was awarded the Victory and British Medals, which suggest that he service overseas at some point.

In the summer of 1917, Private Beacon fell ill, and was admitted to the Military Hospital in Boscombe. He was suffering from pleurisy and tetanus, and is was to these illnesses that he was to succumb. He passed away on 26th July 1917. He was 33 years old.

Frank Archibald Beacon was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, close to where he had made a new home with Kate.

Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Royal Engineers, Sapper, story, war

Sapper William Lock

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Sapper William Lock

William Lock was born in Devon in 1896, one of three children to Tom and Mary Lock, although sadly only William survived childhood. Tom was a shipwright in on the Devon coast, but brought his young family to Kent, where he found work in the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

When William left school, he set about finding a trade. By the time of the 1911 census, aged 15, he was listed as “learning house joinery”, presumably a trade for which his father’s work would have stood him in good stead.

War was looming, however, and William enlisted. He joined the Royal Engineers at a time where they were being inundated with volunteers. Sapper Lock was assigned to G Company, a provisional troop that formed part of the Depot Battalion.

Documentation relating to Sapper Lock’s military service are no longer available; he was awarded the Victory and British Medals, which suggests that he saw some kind of service overseas, but there is nothing on file to confirm this.

The next document relating to William is his war pension, which confirms that he died on 20th January 1919 from ulcerated endocarditis, or heart disease. He was just 23 years old.

Tom and Mary had lost the third of their three children.

William Lock was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Sapper William Lock
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Lincolnshire, Machine Gun Corps, photography, Private, story, war

Private David Charles

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Private David Charles

David Charles was born towards the end of 1893 and was one of eight children. His parents – David Sr and Elizabeth Charles – both came from Wales, and moved their young family to Kent in 1891. David Sr worked at a torpedo factory, and the move may have been determined by employment at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham, Kent.

When he left school, David Jr found work at an ironmonger’s, but storm clouds were forming over Europe, and he was soon called up on to do his duty for King and country.

David Jr enlisted in July 1915, joining the 23rd Reserve Battalion. He transferred to the Machine Gun Corps in February 1917 and was posted to the Western Front a month later.

Private Charles was wounded in action on 7th October 1917, although the injury did not prevent him from returning to duty after three weeks’ rest. He was readmitted to hospital on 23rd November, eventually being transferred home on a hospital ship before Christmas.

On 11th January 1918, Private Charles was transferred to No. 5 Battalion in Grantham, where he was promoted to Acting Lance Corporal within a couple of months. Sickness dogged him, however, and he was eventually discharged from military service for medical reasons on 7th August 1920.

By this time, David had been admitted to Fort Pitt Hospital in Chatham with endocarditis – enlarged heart – and this is where he sadly passed away from the condition just a week after being discharged from the army. He died on 14th August 1920, at the age of 27 years old.

David Charles lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kant.

David seems not to have been originally commemorated by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. I can find no record of why this might have been the case, but this was eventually rectified 10th February 2016, and his name was immediately added to the United Kingdom Book of Remembrance.

The United Kingdom Book of Remembrance commemorates United Kingdom casualties of the two World Wars who were not formerly recorded by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The men and women remembered on it are recent additions to the list of war dead and are presently commemorated solely by their database record and register entry.

The register is maintained at the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s Head Office, Maidenhead, and the names remain recorded there until such time as The Commission has investigated the grave location details.

David’s grave was identified and a headstone now placed in its rightful position.

Private David Charles
Commonwealth War Graves, Devon, Dorset, Great War, history, illness, Kent, photography, Private, Royal West Kent Regiment, story, war

Private Sidney Lord

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Private Sidney Lord

Sidney George Lord was born on 29th March 1895, one of six children to Sidney and Clara Lord. Sidney Sr was a shipwright from Bideford in Devon, and he brought the family to Kent, presumably for work at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

Sidney Sr passed away in 1912 and his son left school, finding work as a plumber’s apprentice. War was on the horizon, however and he was keen to do his bit as soon as possible. Sidney Jr enlisted in November 1914, joining the Queen’s Own Royal West Kent Regiment.

After his initial training, Private Lord was sent to the Front on 22nd April 1915, serving in France with his regiment for just over a year. Towards the end of this time he became anaemic, and was shipped back to England for treatment.

Private Lord was admitted to the Yeatman Hospital in Sherborne, but sadly succumbed to his anaemia a matter of weeks later. He passed away on 12th July 1916, having not lung turned 21 years of age.

Sidney George Lord was laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, close to where his father was buried.

Private Sidney Lord
Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, killed in action, photography, Royal Navy, Shipwright, story, war

Shipwright 3rd Class Thomas Cochran

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Shipwright Thomas Cochran

Thomas Tannahill Cochran was born on 28th February 1899, in Gillingham, Kent. He was one of nine children to Woodrow Cochran and his wife, Janet, née Tannahill. Woodrow was an engine fitter and both he and Janet were from Paisley in Scotland; they moved to Kent not long after getting married, presumably as Woodrow found work in the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

Thomas followed his father and older brothers into the Navy, initially enlisting as a Boy Shipwright on 12th August 1913. He served most of his time at the local dockyard, before setting out to sea in March 1918.

At this point, Shipwright Cochran’s service records need a bit of translation. Tragedy certainly occurred, but the details are a bit disparate.

According his naval service records, Shipwright Cochran was aboard HMS Pembroke II when he was killed in action off the Belgian coast on 23rd April 1918. However, HMS Pembroke II was actually a land-based vessel in Kent.

His gravestone, however suggested that he was assigned to another ship – HMS Vindictive. This was one of the vessels involved in the “Zeebrugge Raid”, an attempt by the Royal Navy to block the Belgian port by scuppering obsolete vessels in the canal entrance.

The Vindictive was to lead a diversion, drawing any attack away from the raid’s true target. However, bad weather blew the ship off course, which brought her within reach of enemy guns. Sadly, casualties were numerous, and Shipwright Cochran was one of those who fell in the German attack. He died on 23rd April 1918 at just 19 years old.

Thomas Tannahill Cochran’s body was recovered, and he lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.

Shipwright Thomas Cochran
Captain, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, India, Kent, London, photography, Quartermaster, Royal Engineers, story, unknown, war, Worcestershire

Major Thomas Clark

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Major Thomas Clark

Thomas James Clark was born in Worcester at the beginning of 1853, the oldest of two children to James Clark and his wife Sarah. James was an engine smith and gas fitter, and moved the family with his work, initially to London, then on to the Kent coast.

Documentation relating to Thomas’ early life is difficult to track down; the 1871 census has him listed as a gas fitter like his father, but it is likely that he enlisted in the army fairly shortly after this date.

In 1875, he married a woman called Emily Ann. There life was to take on a grand new adventure as their first child, a boy named after his father, was born in Bombay, India, later that year.

It seems likely that it was Thomas’ military service that took the young family overseas. This was to be the case for at least a decade, as Emily gave birth to four further children in India. James, their fifth child, was born in Bombay in 1884. Their sixth, and last child, Ellen, was born in Gillingham, Kent, ten years later.

Given that the standard time for military service was twelve years, it is possible that Thomas served all of that time overseas, returning to England in around 1887.

Back home in Kent, Thomas is given the commission of Quartermaster in November 1897. By this point, he has been in the Royal Engineers for just under 21 years. He and his family are living in central Gillingham, within easy walking distance of the Royal Engineers Barracks and School of Engineering.

The 1901 census also lists Thomas as Quartermaster for the regiment, while three of his sons are by this time working in the Naval Dockyard as shipwrights and engine fitters.

Ten years later and the family are still living in the same house. By now, and aged 57, Thomas is recorded as a Retired Captain and Quartermaster for the Royal Engineers. He and Emily have been married 36 years, and their three youngest children (now aged 29, 26 and 17) are still living with them.

War was looming by now, although, age 61 when it broke out, it is unlikely that Retired Quartermaster Clark would have been involved in any front line activity. While no military records survive for Thomas, it seems possible that he may have been recalled for a training or administrative role at the barracks nearby.

Any re-commission would not have lasted for long, however, as Quartermaster Clark passed away at home on 10th September 1916. He was 63 years old.

Thomas James Clark lies at peace in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Thomas’ widow, Emily, passed away just two years after her husband. She was also laid to rest in the Woodlands Cemetery.

Thomas left his estate in the hands of his youngest son, James, who was still living at his parents’ home when they passed away.

Able Seaman, Boy, Cambridgeshire, Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, illness, Kent, Ordinary Seaman, Petty Officer, photography, Royal Navy, story, war

Petty Officer 1st Class Albert Brooks

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Petty Officer Albert Brooks

Albert Brooks was born in February 1877 in Cambridge. Sadly, a lot of the documentation for his early life is lost to time, but he enlisted in the Royal Navy in July 1893, at the rank of Boy 2nd Class.

He formally enrolled in naval service in February 1895, initially for a period of twelve years. Beginning as an Ordinary Seaman aboard HMS Thunderer, during his initial time in the navy, he was promoted to Able Seaman and then Petty Officer 2nd Class, while serving on vessels including Hawke, Wildfire, Eclipse and Vernon.

In 1904, Albert married Rosina Wise. A couple of years younger than her new husband, she had been born in Camberwell, South London. The couple had a daughter, Gwendoline, and they set up home in Gillingham, Kent, where Albert was based when not at sea.

War was on the horizon, however, and Petty Officer Brooks’ naval service was extended until the end of the conflict.

Albert was promoted to Petty Officer 1st Class, and continued his service on vessels that included Andromache, London and Hibernia. He transferred to what would be his final ship, HMS Agamemnon, in November 1917.

Petty Officer Brooks served aboard Agamemnon for eighteen months, but it was while stationed at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham that he fell ill. He passed away from aortic disease of the heart – more than likely a heart attack or cardiac arrest – on 31st March 1919. He had just turned 42 years of age.

Albert Brooks lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, Hampshire, history, illness, Kent, London, photography, Royal Navy, Stoker, story, Wales, war

Chief Stoker Ernest Ware

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Chief Stoker Ernest Ware

Ernest George Ware was born in the autumn of 1871 in Marylebone, London. Details of his early life are scant, but records show that he enlisted in the Royal Navy in February 1895, serving as a Stoker for an initial period of twelve years.

During this time, he worked on a number of different vessels – Wildfire, Theseus, Warspite, Amphion, Acheron and Sapphire. He was also based on a number of shore vessels; potentially Southsea in Hampshire and Pembroke in Wales.

In 1905 he married Mary Emery; she was the same age as Ernest, and was born in Hampshire. The young couple had a daughter, Muriel, and, by the time of the 1911 census, the family were living in Pembroke Dock, in South Wales.

War was inching closer, and Stoker Ware’s service was extended for the duration; he served on a number of other vessels – Leander, Blenheim, Blake and Tyne – before being promoted to Chief Stoker on HMS Blonde in 1911. He transferred to HMS St George two years later, before moving on shore to the training vessel HMS Victory II (based in Crystal Palace, South London) in 1915.

Chief Stoker Ware’s health seemed to have been in decline by this point; he was admitted to the Royal Naval Hospital Haslar in Gosport in early 1916, suffering from malignant endocarditis. Sadly, he passed away on 16th February, aged 44 years old.

Ernest George Ware was buried in the Woodlands Cemetery in Gillingham, Kent, close to where his widow was now living.

Commonwealth War Graves, Great War, history, Kent, photography, Private, Royal West Surrey Regiment, story, Surrey, Uncategorized, unknown, war

Private Richard Taylor

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Private Richard Taylor

Richard Edmundson Taylor was born in 1895, one of nine children to Frederick and Emma Taylor. Frederick was from Portsmouth, Emma from Blackburn, but the couple had settled their family in Kent, where Frederick worked as an engineer and pattern maker at the Naval Dockyard in Chatham.

When he left school, Richard took work as an apprentice photographer – his older sister Mildred worked as a re-toucher in the same studio. The 1911 census reveals that his eldest sister, Alice, was working as a governess; the family of eleven were living in a small terraced house in Seaview Road, Gillingham – a road that, ironically, had no view of the nearby River Medway or Thames Estuary.

At this point, Richard’s trail goes cold. He enlisted in the Royal West Surrey Regiment – also known as the Queen’s – but there is no documentation to confirm when this was.

Private Taylor’s battalion, the 2/4th, would go on to fight at Gallipoli, but he would not have been involved, and, more than likely, did not see any overseas service. The prefix to his service number (T/2711) may well have indicated he was in training when he passed away, although, again, there is no physical evidence to confirm this.

Nor is there any indication of the cause of Private Taylor’s death. His name does not appear on any contemporary newspaper reports, so it is unlikely that it was due to any misadventure; more probably, he passed away from one of the many communicable diseases that became common in the training camps of the 1910s.

Whatever the cause, Private Taylor died at home on 4th February 1915. He was just 19 years old.

Richard Edmundson Taylor lies at rest in the Woodlands Cemetery in his home town of Gillingham, Kent.